Australia, World's Leader in Mental Health

Posted on February 21, 2014

Australia's Medicare funding for conditions like anxiety, depression and substance abuse had put the country as world's leader in mental health.

According to the Better Access, with authors led by Professor Harvey Whiteford of the University of Queensland, treatment for mental health has increase impressively in Australia compared to any country in the world. From 37 per cent in 2006/07, mental health treatment increased to 46 per cent in 2009/10.

"Taking the first step to get support is often difficult, but most people make a full recovery after doing so. We have also launched Man Therapy, a first of its kind campaign that has attracted over 300,000 unique visitors to its website. The more we work to get these messages into the community, the more we believe that treatment rates will continue to grow," Ms Karnell said.

However, Professor Lyn Littlefield, executive director of the Australian Psychological Society said that there were still 54 per cent of people with mental illness left untreated.